Boys rescued from Thai cave to be discharged from hospital next week

Banphot said his son lost about three to four kilograms during the ordeal and he asked for pork barbecue, Thai-styled noodle soup and a new phone to replace the old one he lost in the cave. "If the passage was low and wide you'd hold it to the side", he said. "Thanks for saving me".

The Thai caverescue garnered global attention when 12 boys along with their football coach got trapped in the Tham Luang caves of Thailand. Then the problem became how to get them back out through the tunnels, some completely full of fast-flowing flood water.

The 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand have less than a week before being released to the homes they haven't seen in nearly a month.

Richard Stanton, one of a pair of British caving experts who found the boys, gave reporters Friday a first-hand account of the moment he saw them emerge from behind a rock face onto a muddy ledge kilometres (miles) inside the Tham Luang cave.

He said: "Initially of course excitement, relief that they were still alive. Regarding infections, through the medical evaluations in the first days there may be some of them that had minor pneumonia, but now all is cleared, no fever", Piyasakol said.

Twenty-five-year-old coach EkkapolChantawong said: "Thank you the prime minister, all of the agencies, the [Thai] Navy Seals and all of the doctors. I just saw his cheeks and it reminded me of my own daughter and I couldn't stop the tears coming to my eyes".

As the team returned to a heroes' welcome at Heathrow Airport, it was up to Rick Stanton to speak for the team.